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News item: Mayor, -- clerk canoe Nonquon SPECIAL TO THE STAR ~ Siesta Beach, SARASOTA, Florida , - This column is coming to you from one of the three best beaches in the world. Siesta Key (island) followed by Lido Beach here in Flogida according to locals rates next to the French Rivjéra and Cuba for the whitest cleanest sand in'the world. As the sea gulls and pelicans float up and down miles of flat warm sand, thousands of touristes" absorb the 85 degree breeze from the Gulf of Mexico. Most unusual shells adorn the entire coastline...a collectors paradise. Even dolphins play gracefully where the Gulf tide sweeps back and forth into the inland wat Normally this reporter vacations in Po pano Beach or Ft. Lauderdale on the Gold Coast of Florida or in the Caribbean...but the splendour and the teenquility of the Gulf Coast has captiavated my heart. #4 The cost of living here in some areas is unbelievably low. New houses with 3 bedrooms and two baths sell for as low as $17,777. Gasoline sells for as low as 47.9¢ gal and cigarettes for as low as 33c a pack of twenty. ruit often costs more here than in Canada, but cars (some made at home) sell for about $508 less. A 32 oz. 'bottle of 7 UP costs only 25¢. Eggs from 70 to 75¢ doz. Imported Rye $4.95, Gin $3.75 a bottle. _, Telephone calls are.only 10c and General Telephone here advertise to "Give your phone a holiday" and turn it off when youare away. In many areas there is no (25¢) charge for information...others you get six free 'info' calls. The charge to connect a phone is only $5 unlike th& unreasonable fee charged by Bell Canada. ) Sarasota Police arrested 4 Nude Sunbathers...all men. The police report says although there were several TOPLESS females on the beach at the time, police said that to be topless is not a violation of the specific nudity statute under which the male sunbath- ers were arrested. Womens Lib has come a long way...baby. They didn't even burn their bras. The elderly here are treated daily with mobile meals supplied by service clubs, businesses apd churches...and no dishes wash. The Sarasota funeral directors are in a PRICE WAR for funerals and it has JIVE Ros 'a good deal? Now th¢y introduced a 're-usable . + bridges that cross Tampa Bay...150 feet above the 2 gotten so bad they have named a mediator to settle the price-cutting. Who 14 the elderly aren't getting casket" that has an inner shell that cuts funerals in half. It's made of fiberglass and according to the morticians you get all the advantages of a $2,500 funeral for only $600. Cadillac ride and all. Delighted to run into some old flying buddys here. speeds the Oshawa Flying Club "'Sno-and Stn" flight Stopped off at. Kissimmee near Disney World on their flight to the Bahamas. The flight was organized by fellow pilot Larry McLean of Oshawa. John .Orde formerly of Port Perry, brother of former council member "Phil", operatesra Sarasota Mobilé Home Park, treated me to a-day on the ocean fishing "kings" fram his 40 ft. cruiser. We cruised from the Sarasota Yacht Club to Venice on the inland waterway had dinner and returned by the Gulf of Mexico...about 50 miles round trip. Sarasota is the home of thé famous Ringling Bros. Circus and many places here apart from the Museum carry the Ringling. M.G.M.'s Bounty . (boat) used in the film is anchored at St. Petersburg just a short run over the 15 mile long Twin SE 5 uu water. The Circus Hall of Fame is located on Hwy. 41 opposite Sarasota airport. The car and music Museum has over 150 restored autos and over 1000'music boxes dating from 1790. The weather here ranges in the mid-80's days and mid-60's at night. HurmidityNs low and delightful' for sleeping. y Cananda Calling, a radio network here gives all the important Canadian news and weather reports from home. A CBS news special did a whole five minute spot on Port Hope and the radiation problem...coast- to-coast with interviews: The big news here at the moment is the battle between the two heavy-yeights the doctors and lawyers over malpractice suits. It would make the 'Hatfield and McCoy" feud look like a Laurel and Hardy comedy. Doctors enragéd at the lawyers have raised a war chest of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars to fight to put a limit on malpractice claims. ¢ And how was your day? A thought to pass on... Today is the pasfbrought to date, - The future brough} into the present; - And, one day, when time Will have slipped into Be Tiids of eternity Today will be part of forever... So live it well. A State Senator here in Florida is pushing for a "Sunset Law". The new law would investigate the need for continuing agencies and programs after each six-year period. The abolishing of unneeded and overstaffed government departments could save tax- payers money now going down the drain.. little by little like a leaky faucet. I shall try to get a copy and send it to Prime Minister Trudeau, with -a happy sunset to all in Ottawa. | Predi cting storms A v Nos You can be fairly accurate about making a number of predictions, including that the -Sun will rise tomorrow, the Earth will keep spinning, and Scugog Township council's, announced permission to "allow another. three-day deer hunting season in the town- ship will create a lot of flack.in some circles. "In eight years In the business; this writer has ~ covered scores of automobile fatalities, a dozen or so murders, a few accidental shoatings and maimings and the like, but nothing ever infuriates the public like the 'irresponsible official advocates huntifg: <= ] : i Is this not the 1970's, they ask? How can we allow the brutal murdering of defenceless animals at a time when the Do-Do bird is'already gone, the Bengal Tiger and Whooping Crané are nearing extinction? Trouble is, that by our misguided concerns, we are probably doing more harm than good. By focusing on all the wrong issues, we dre ovérlooking the real concerns. _ | - wipe. Recent publicity...perhaps over-publicity...in refer-- ence to conservation and pollution has created not only an awareness of the problem, but also an ironic - over-reaction that threatens to 'do a lot of harm. Ironically, this sad and misguided anti-hunting, sentiment has fallen on the heads of the knowledge- able conservation workers as well as the hunter. Fact is, sportsmen are among the most concerned about the balance of nature and. the need to. ensure there's no further depletion of wildlife: :Not only are they among the most concerned, but they are also willing to do more than talk about it. Sportsmen groups and organizations have for.years co-operated with government programs and directives in an .effort to ensure Canada's stock of wildlife. The 'secret, of course, is wildlife management. - Contrary, to popular belief in some circles, wildlife management isn't simply leaving things alone. With every new subdivision that expands are cities and towns, every lumbering operation, 'and with the pollution ~of more and more streams, we are encroaching step by methodical step on the domain of our wildlife. Wildlife managemerit becomes not only* desirable, but a necessity. ' - And a very necessary. part of that management program, is the harvesting of wildlife. | Solar energy? ep We ~ Scientists are predicting thfit by the end of this century as much as 20 percen} of Canadals, power needs will'be produced by solar energy from the "ast sources available from the 50n. y } At first glance this sounds like the best news we've had in our energy-depleted planet since the Arab countries started askingta fair price for their oil. Only recently Canadians were told that declining natural-gas and oil reserves inj Canada, -combined with the burgeoning demands df"dur technological . society would face us with serious shortages by 1980 if alternate supplies were not found. Conservation of energy is more than just good stewardship of resources it is now a serious practical necessity. ~~ Solar energy, then, would be of enormous value if the world is to find viable alternative to oil, natural gas hydro and coal. t the moment, however, its costs are unbelievable." Energy from this source today costs in excess of $20.00 a watt and scientists. predict that it will be nearly the year 2000 before it can be produced at the economically feasible rate of 25 cents a watt. Government agencies, private Industry and univer- ~~ sity laboratories are now engaged in a major push > exploit solar power cheaply within a decade for possible major pfoduction by the year 2000. It is like the major push back in the early 1960's to put a man on the moon. The analogy is apt, because while man had the ability to reach the moon years before 1961 it required vast expenditures of govern. ment money...billiohs of, dollars...to come up with a feasible scheme. * The same dedicatio and expenditures must be forthcoming if solar rgy is to be viable. Governments must be urged to spend this money so that pressure on our frontiers for petroleum can be eased, pollution lessened and stewardship of resour- ces practised for the right reasons. or politician who © |e é » \ wle be ® |e | @ ® 3 ¥ 4 6 & wv LJ FJ i 4 e $ e